The importance of personal branding for creative businesses

At the heart of every business is a personal story – a story of how your brand came to be, and what inspires your work. A key part of sharing and developing connection with your customers though, is learning how to effectively tell this story. The first step? Personal branding.

“I didn’t realise how important branding was to my own purchasing habits until I was standing in a Walmart during a trip to the United States, looking for some cold and flu tablets,” shares Kali Lewis from Ardent Soul Photography.

“I found what I was looking for, but the packaging was just plain ugly – so ugly that I continued to look for an alternate brand. Disappointed, I realised what I needed was in the ugly box, and I begrudgingly had to purchase it.”

Of course, the product worked perfectly fine for what Kali needed, but it got her thinking: how much does branding actually play into the decisions we make?

Even on a daily basis, it seems that that the answer is very clear.

“Call me shallow, but I discovered it happens a lot,” she laughs.

And Kali is right. In fact, research from Forbes suggests that colour improves brand recognition by up to 80%.

“In today’s world of online shopping, our audience is far greater than just those who visit our physical shop/studio/farm etc.,” says Kali.

“We can reach more customers than ever before, but so can all the other businesses out there. Having clear and consistent brand imagery helps your business stand out from the crowd and be more memorable. And, in my experience, I’m more likely to trust a company or business that has taken the time to create beautiful imagery for their online store.”

What might be most important, though, is sharing your story – something that isn’t possible without breaking down that barrier and introducing yourself to your audience.

Using imagery to capture the personality of a brand is a passion for Kali: “I’m not just talking about the product pages, but quality imagery of the people behind the products and the brand story helps me to get to know and trust who I’m spending my money with before I ever click ‘Add to cart’.”

“Having clear and consistent brand imagery helps your business stand out from the crowd and be more memorable.”

Thank you to Kali for sharing her knowledge on branding for small businesses. You can view Kali’s work at @ardentsoulphotography, and if you’d like to share your story with The Maker’s Story, get in touch.